The fear that Elizabeth would slip through their fingers was accentuated
for the Spaniards by the idea that her proceedings in religion might
induce the Pope to listen to French prompting and excommunicate her,
declaring her throne forfeit to the next Catholic heir, Mary of Scotland,
Dauphiness of France. Anything would have suited Philip better than that,
and it appears to have been this consideration which finally moved him
to dazzle the new Queen, and cut out all the other suitors by proposing
formally to become her husband himself. Elizabeth had, of course, in her
two previous conversations with Feria, understood his veiled allusions
to the subject; and when he had pressed his demand for rooms in the
Palace of Whitehall, Elizabeth, with prudish modesty, sent word by Cecil
that, as she was unmarried and Feria might be her suitor, it would be
improper for him to sleep under the same roof. Feria, recognising the
absurdity of the alleged reason, believed that the refusal was owing to
French intrigue, and urged his master to act promptly. “Your Majesty must
get the affair into your own grasp. We must look to it at once that the
King of France does not get in and spoil the crop that your Majesty has
sown here.” Thus abjured, Philip took the plunge, once more in a pure
spirit of martyrdom—not this time on account of disparity of age or lack
of attraction on the part of his bride-elect, but rather because of her
doubtful orthodoxy.
It is difficult to understand how so sagacious a man as Philip can
have been so blind to the character of his sister-in-law as to have
believed that an offer made in the spirit displayed in his letter to
his ambassador could have been accepted by her. On 10th January, 1559,
the King wrote thus to Feria: “I highly approve of the course you have
adopted in persuading her and the Council that it is not to her interest
to marry a subject. As regards myself, if she should broach the subject
to you, you should treat it in such a way as neither to accept nor reject
the suggestion entirely. In a matter of such grave importance it was
necessary for me to take counsel and consider it maturely in all its
bearings, before I sent you my decision. Many great obstacles present
themselves, and it is difficult for me to reconcile my conscience to it,
as I am obliged to reside in my other dominions, and consequently could
not be much in England, which, apparently, is what they fear; and also
because the Queen has not been sound in religion, and it would not look
well for me to marry her unless she were a Catholic. Besides this, such
a marriage would appear like entering upon a perpetual war with France,
seeing the claims that the Queen of Scots has to the English Crown. The
urgent need for my presence in Spain, which is greater than I can say
here, and the heavy expense I should be put to in England by reason of
the costly entertainment necessary to the people there, together with